Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-10-Speech-2-017"
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"en.20090310.5.2-017"2
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"−
Madam President, honourable Members, I, too would like to begin by expressing thanks, in this case to the rapporteur, Mr Schwab, and to those Members of this House who participated in the preparatory work, for their truly constructive and engaged cooperation, which makes agreement right at the first reading possible.
What we are actually dealing with here is what appears to be a very technical regulation, yet it is a regulation with a large and far-reaching political significance. What we are aiming to adopt today represents a milestone when it comes to improving road safety. This regulation will make European cars safer. It is a milestone in terms of the environmental compatibility of European vehicles, as environmental compatibility, of course, is something that will not only be achieved through producing more fuel-efficient engines – cars also offer other entirely different options for saving fuel and reducing pollution. At the end of the day, it will also form an important part of our policy of better lawmaking, as it will lead to a truly drastic simplification of the entire regulatory environment.
Allow me to begin with the aspect of safety, which was the most important element in this project. Road safety in Europe is still an issue that demands our earnest attention and that causes us great concern. The rules that we are laying down here, and that will apply as standard to European cars from 2011, will lead to 35 000 fewer deaths and serious injuries a year on Europe’s roads. The introduction of the electronic stability programme for passenger cars and for commercial vehicles, in particular, can save almost 3 000 lives a year and prevent serious injuries for 25 000 people. This is, ultimately, a piece of safety equipment which, especially when it comes to goods vehicles, which are often involved in serious accidents, has only rarely been used up to now. The costs to manufacturers will be far outweighed by the overall economic benefit.
This package of measures will play a considerable part in implementing the European Strategy to reduce CO
emissions from passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. It makes low rolling resistance tyres mandatory and requires the installation of tyre pressure monitoring systems and gear shift indicators. These measures will reduce average CO
emissions by 6 to 7 grams of CO
per kilometre. That is, therefore, a really very noteworthy contribution. What is more, I do not wish to miss the opportunity to point out that this proposal will lead to a significant reduction in noise pollution from roads since reducing tyre noise levels will bring about a significant improvement in this situation.
Allow me, at this point, to stress once again that we can only achieve sustainable mobility in Europe if, as part of an integrated approach, we include the potential of all the factors that are involved here, which means the vehicle itself – which is what we are discussing today – but we also have to discuss the transport infrastructure and the driving behaviour of the people involved. I am very pleased that that is exactly how the European Parliament sees it.
As for simplifying the legislation, this regulation will bring about an impressive simplification of the regulatory environment. This single regulation will rescind 50 existing directives and, wherever possible, replace them by international rules. Lower administration costs, better transparency and greater international harmonisation will mean noteworthy savings for the industry, and that will help reinforce its competitiveness. At the same time, the Member States will benefit from reduced spending on administration.
When it comes to cars, it is scarcely possible not to mention the fact that the European motor industry currently finds itself in a very serious crisis, the most serious for decades. It is natural, therefore, to wonder whether this is the right time to be implementing technical regulations. Let me be quite clear in my response to that, when I say that what we are aiming to adopt here today is one of the results of the CARS 21 process, in which we worked intensively with manufacturers, the Member States and civil society on how the framework for the European motor industry will look in future and how we envisage the European car of the future. I would like to emphasise strongly that, even in this crisis – and specifically in this crisis, in fact – European manufacturers must not slacken off when it comes to developing and bringing onto the market cars that meet the requirements of the early 21
century, and those requirements are quite clear. Consumers want vehicles that use less fuel, are better for the environment and are safer.
The vision for the European car of the future that resulted from CARS 21, and the common line of all the participants when it came to the future of this industry, is exactly that – what we want is for Europe to send out to face the international competition not only qualitatively the best cars, but also those that consume the least, are the most environmentally friendly and the safest, and I am absolutely convinced that, with products like that, the European industry will retain its leading position in the international vehicles market. Thank you very much."@en1
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